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rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The most enjoyable thing about Prophet was its romance, and that’s probably not a good sign for a sci-fi book. The sci-fi elements introduced here were interesting, but the execution was just not that great.
The problem with the plot is that it was just a bit too confusing and that the pacing was off. The story centres around objects appearing out of nothing which is caused by a remedy called Prophet. It’s somehow connected to nostalgia and the main characters – Adam, a soldier, and Rao, an ordinary guy that can see the truth and is somehow connected to Prophet – have to figure what it is about and who’s behind it.
The beginning of the story was weird and intriguing what I enjoyed first but soon I was just confused because not everything is explained properly or even makes sense. The investigation sounded interesting, but they barely investigate anything, and I was not sure what the goal of their mission was. Additionally, the middle section was so slow because barely anything happens, and the characters only stay at one place. All in all, I think that the story had more potential that was sadly not utilized enough.
What I liked though was that the atmosphere throughout the novel is constantly kinda creepy. The body horror elements were interesting as well that especially played a role towards the ending. The final section of the book was quite unsettling, and it would’ve been great if the horror elements were more in the focus in the rest of the story as well. What I found a bit unnecessary about the ending though was Rao’s fake death .
Like I’ve said, what I enjoyed the most about Prophet was the dynamic between the two main characters Rao and Adam. I liked them both and for once, I was not annoyed by the banter but actually found it funny from time to time. We sadly have not many interesting characters besides them. Especially the female characters felt a bit flat, and it was annoying how one of them was always called a psycho. Rao and Adam sometimes felt a bit cliché too with one of them having a dark secret and the other one fulfilling the cliché of the promiscuous bisexual person.
I’m not sure if I would recommend Prophet or not. The book was just a bit too long with too many things that weren’t explained enough. I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it wasn’t for Adam and Rao. Maybe a book series about shorter sci-fi cases that they have to solve would be more fitting for them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, War, Animal death, Violence, and Addiction
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Confinement, and Homophobia
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